Departmental Mobile Phones

David Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice has been given to Ministers on mobile telephone security in the last three months.

Francis Maude: I have been asked to reply.
	On appointment Ministers are given briefing on a wide range of security issues and are subsequently given any updates as a matter of course.

NHS Bursary Scheme

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate has been made of the cost of the NHS bursary scheme in each of the financial years from 2011-12 to 2015-16; and if he will make a statement.

Anne Milton: The National Health Service Bursary Scheme budget is part of the multi-professional education and training budget and paying students is the first call on this budget. In 2011-12, the NHS Bursary Scheme is expected to cost £520 million. Future costs will be dictated by student numbers, the level of attrition and the format of the NHS Bursary Scheme, which is currently under review.

NHS Bursary Scheme

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the NHS bursary scheme will continue to cover tuition fees following the implementation of the Higher Education (Higher Amounts) (England) Regulations 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Anne Milton: The Higher Education (Higher Amounts) (England) Regulations 2010 will have no direct impact on national health service funded students as universities are prohibited from charging tuition fees under the terms of the standard contract. Tuition fees for medical and dental students in the later years of training are met from the NHS Bursary Scheme. We are assessing the impact of the regulations on these students and considering whether any changes are necessary.

Earned Privilege Schemes

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many (a) foreign national prisoners and (b) immigration detainees were involved in incentive and earned privilege schemes in each of the last five years; and what the total monetary value of additional allowances and privileges awarded was in each such case in each year;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of Prison Service Instruction 11/2011 on incentives and earned privilege.

Crispin Blunt: The Incentives and Earned Privileges Scheme applies to all prisoners, including all foreign national prisoners and immigration detainees. The purpose of the scheme is to allow prisoners to earn additional privileges through responsible behaviour, participation in hard work and other constructive activity. The key earnable privileges do not have a direct monetary value; for example, costs of in-cell television and wearing own clothes are borne by the prisoner. Other key earnable privileges, such as additional prison visits, are already provided by NOMS and form an integral part of the prison regime. Governors may offer additional earnable privileges as part of local schemes. Details of these are not held centrally and could be obtained only by contacting every prison at disproportionate cost.
	Prison Service Instruction 11/2011 did not introduce any substantive changes to the previous Incentives and Earned Privileges policy. The scheme is an integral part of prisoner management and the cost of operating it cannot be separately identified.

Military Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the Nimrod R1 will be retired; when the RC-135W Air Seeker will come into service; and which assets will fill the SIGINT and ELINT capability in the interim period.

Peter Luff: I refer the hon. Member to the answer the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for North Somerset (Dr Fox), gave on 30 March 2011, Official Report, column 392W.
	Airseeker is planned to enter service in 2014. Until then UK aircrew will be deployed on USAF Rivet Joint aircraft to provide electronic intelligence (ELINT) and signals intelligence (SIGINT) support to coalition operations. A number of other intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance capabilities will also be available to our armed forces during this time including: Sentry, Sentinel, Tornado GR 4 when fitted with a RAPTOR or Litening III pod, Typhoon when fitted with a Litening III pod, Sea King Mk7, Reaper Remotely Piloted Air System and Hermes 450 UAS.

Public Sector: Procurement

Neil Carmichael: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment he has made of progress in enabling small and medium-sized enterprises to tender for Government procurement contracts; and if he will make a statement.

Sajid Javid: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent assessment has been made of progress in enabling small and medium-sized enterprises to tender for Government procurement contracts.

Francis Maude: On 11 February, the Prime Minister and I announced a series of measures to make it easier for SMEs to compete for Government contracts through:
	Increasing visibility of opportunities—by the week commencing 2 May 2011, we had published 1,062 procurement opportunities on Contracts Finder, with registrations from 1,523 supplier organisations.
	Simplifying prequalification—We are seeking to eliminate prequalification questionnaires below a £100,000 threshold and promoting use of the SME-friendly Open Procedure above £100,000, which is being tested on 11 projects. We will report on progress.
	Streamlining the procurement process—We are applying a ‘lean’ approach to strip out unnecessary overhead from Government procurement processes.
	Feedback—Introducing a new Mystery Shopper service. Three out of four completed cases concluded by the Mystery Shopper service have resulted in changes to simplify the procurement process. The first SME Panel meeting—allowing SMEs the opportunity to critically evaluate progress on the programme is scheduled for the end of June and will be chaired by the MCO.
	We will be publishing, in May or June, Central Government Departments’ specific action plans detailing how they will increase the amount of their business going to SMEs. We will also publish statistics showing progress towards the Government’s aspiration that 25% of its procurement expenditure should go to SMEs. Baseline data for 2009-10 is currently being collected and will be published once it is available.

Brighton

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many ring-fenced grants provided by his Department were available for Brighton and Hove city council to claim in 2011-12; how much is available in such grants; how many such grants have been made; and how much is to be awarded in such grants.

Nick Gibb: The funding streams to local authorities were rationalised for 2011-12 and there are two ring-fenced revenue grants available to Brighton and Hove council in 2011-12. These are the dedicated schools grant and the pupil premium grant.
	Funding for both grants is allocated on the basis of pupil numbers and total allocations for each grant will be confirmed in June 2011 once pupil number data from the January 2011 Census has been validated and agreed. For Brighton and Hove the grants will be allocated on the following basis:
	
		
			  Amount per pupil (£) 
			 Dedicated schools grant  
			 Guaranteed unit of funding (GUF) 5,017.08 
			   
			 Pupils eligible for pupil premium grant  
			 Eligible for free school meals 430.00 
			 Looked after children 430.00 
			 Service children 200.00

Education: Finance

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he plans to provide additional assistance to schools for the administration of 16 to 19 bursaries.

Nick Gibb: Schools, colleges and training providers are able currently to use up to 5% of their allocation of discretionary funds to meet the costs of administering the scheme; this will continue following the introduction of the 16-19 bursary fund.

Education: Finance

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans his Department has to communicate to students details of the eligibility criteria for the proposed 16 to 19 bursary system; and what funds he has allocated for this purpose.

Nick Gibb: Information on the 16-19 Bursary Fund is currently available on the Department for Education website at:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/16to19/studentsupport
	and will be updated after the end of the current consultation. We will also consider what further communication may be necessary. In doing so we will work with representative bodies of schools, colleges, training providers and others, to ensure appropriate communication of the new arrangements at a local level. We do not expect this activity to involve communications paid for by Government, in order that the maximum possible resource can be directed towards providing financial support for students.

Education: Finance

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what guidance his Department plans to give schools and colleges on the final date on which applications for 16 to 19 bursaries may be submitted for funds to be disbursed in financial year 2011-12.

Nick Gibb: Decisions regarding the date by which young people should apply for support from the 16-19 Bursary Fund to receive payment in either the 2011-12 financial or academic year will be made locally. We will consider, following the ending of the consultation on the new arrangements, whether guidance is necessary on this matter.

Education: Finance

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of (a) school sixth forms and (b) further education colleges he expects to offer 16 to 19 bursaries in academic year 2011-12.

Nick Gibb: The proportion of school sixth forms and further education colleges that will receive an allocation of funding for the 16-19 Bursary Fund will depend on the methodology for allocating funding, on which we are currently consulting. Decisions regarding the awarding of bursaries to students will be made locally by schools, colleges and training providers.

Education: Finance

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans his Department has to publicise and raise awareness of the 16 to 19 bursary scheme; and how much funding he has allocated for that purpose.

Nick Gibb: Information on the 16-19 Bursary Fund is currently available on the Department for Education website at:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/16to19/studentsupport
	and will be updated after the end of the current consultation. We will also consider what further communication may be necessary. In doing so we will work with representative bodies of schools, colleges, training providers and others, to ensure appropriate communication of the new arrangements at a local level. We do not expect this activity to involve communications paid for by Government, in order that the maximum possible resource can be directed towards providing financial support for students.

Free Schools

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 14 March 2011, Official Report, columns 49-50W, on free schools, what criteria his Department used in making decisions to consider further or reject proposals for free schools for 16 to 19 year olds; whether (a) local further education and sixth form colleges and (b) local authorities will be informed about those proposals his Department is considering further; and what mechanism he has put in place to enable the public to (i) receive details of and (ii) comment on the proposals.

Nick Gibb: The proposals for 16-19 free schools referred to in my answer of 14 March 2011, Official Report, columns 49-50W, were assessed against a set of core criteria, including the strengths of the proposals' aims and objectives, evidence of demand and suitability of premises and the proposers' capacity and capability. The Education Bill currently before Parliament contains provisions to make the necessary changes to the legislative framework to enable 16-19 free schools to be established. Subject to Royal Assent of the Education Bill, the first opportunity for such free schools to open will be September 2012. Applicants will be judged against the minimum and comparative criteria laid out in the recently published guidance document for free schools opening in 2012, details of which can be found at:
	www.education.gov.uk/freeschools
	Under section 9 of the Academies Act 2010, the Secretary of State has a duty to take account of the impact that establishing a new school might have on existing maintained schools, academies and institutions within the further education sector in the area where the free school is to be situated. This would include further education and sixth form colleges. The views of local authorities will also be taken into consideration when exercising this duty. The duty, in section 10 of the Academies Act 2010, is on the Academy Trust to consult with whom they deem appropriate on whether to enter into academy arrangements with the Secretary of State in relation to an additional school.

Higher Education: Admissions

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many and what proportion of schools in Coventry sent at least one pupil to the university of (a) Oxford and (b) Cambridge in each of the last 13 years.

David Willetts: I have been asked to reply.
	Information has been supplied by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) and is in the following table.
	
		
			 Schools in Coventry with applicants accepted to full-time undergraduate courses at Oxford university or university of Cambridge via UCAS 
			  Oxford university University of Cambridge 
			 Year of entry Number of schools with acceptances Percentage of schools with acceptances Number of schools with acceptances Percentage of schools with acceptances 
			 2001 2 25 3 38 
			 2002 2 25 2 25 
			 2003 2 25 1 13 
			 2004 3 38 1 13 
			 2005 3 38 2 25 
			 2006 1 13 2 25 
			 2007 2 25 3 38 
			 2008 2 25 3 38 
			 2009 2 25 3 38 
			 2010 2 25 3 38 
			 Source: UCAS 
		
	
	Schools have been identified as those with a postcode in the Coventry North East, Coventry North West and Coventry South parliamentary constituencies. Other kinds of centres have not contributed to this analysis. Only schools from which UCAS received applications in the cycle concerned have contributed to the proportion calculation. Data for earlier years has not been provided as the necessary reference data is not available.

UK Trade and Investment: AssetCo

John Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether staff of UK Trade and Investment have provided (a) advice and (b) support to AssetCo plc; in which years such advice and support was given; and what the total cost to the public purse was of such advice and support.

Mark Prisk: Records show that UKTI assisted AssetCo in 2008, 2010 and 2011. Information on the nature of any support given to individual companies UKTI assists is commercially sensitive and held in confidence.